May 15, 2015 — Maria (Masha) Alekhina and Nadezhda (Nadya) Tolokonnikova, founding members of Pussy Riot, along with Hunter Heaney, Director of the Voice Project, made a surprise call to Cuban performance artist Tania Bruguera who was arrested late 2014 in Havana. The phone meeting was held during the press conference following an event on May 7, 2015, hosted by SITE Santa Fe and Santa Fe University of Art & Design in New Mexico. Produced by SITE Santa Fe, a video of portions of this call can be watched HERE.
From L-R: Peter Verzilov (Voina), Hunter Heaney (Voice Project), Nadya Tolokonnikova, Masha Alekhina (Pussy Riot). (Kate Russell.)
Founding members of the Moscow-based activist collective Pussy Riot, Masha Alekhina and Nadya Tolokonnikova, along with Hunter Heaney, Director of the Voice Project, reached out to Bruguera recently, and discussed her legal defense situation, the political climate in Havana, and the rights of artists—and the public—to freedom of expression. Showing solidarity with Bruguera’s cause, the group compared prison circumstances, human rights issues, and the legal systems in Cuba and Russia to find remarkable similarities. This occasion was the first time that Masha and Nadya have spoken to Bruguera and they plan to work together to bring greater awareness of the topics at hand.
Pussy Riot SITE press conference from SITE Santa Fe on Vimeo.
Cuban performance artist Tania Bruguera was arrested outside her home on December 30th 2014, on her way to Havana’s Revolution Square, where she was to set up a microphone for Cubans to make their voices heard, one minute at a time. The purpose of the work, she said, was “to tell people in the street ‘come and share with us your doubts, your happiness – whatever you think right now about what is happening in Cuba, and what is the idea of Cuba that you want?’” This event occurred just after the December 17, 2014 announcements that the US and Cuba were planning to “normalize” diplomatic relations after fifty years of embargoes.
Though Tania has been released from prison, the charges against her remain and her passport is confiscated – while the government constructs a case she is subject to constant surveillance, harassment and cannot leave the country for fear of being forbidden to return. She has been unable to find a lawyer to represent her in the upcoming trial, because of government control in the judicial system. Two New York Times articles explain her situation in more depth here and here.
In explaining Bruguera’s predicament, the Voice Project’s website states that, “Free speech and self-expression are not crimes, and should not be treated as such. Join the Voice Project and #YoTambiénExijo in speaking up for free expression and calling on the Cuban government to drop the case against Tania Bruguera.”
Earlier that evening on May 7, 2015 SITE Santa Fe, in conjunction with Santa Fe University of Art & Design, hosted An Evening with Pussy Riot. Founding members of the Moscow-based activist collective Pussy Riot, Masha Alekhina and Nadya Tolokonnikova, appeared at the Greer Garson Theatre in conversation with translator Peter Verzilov (Voina) and Ellen Berkovitch, founder, publisher and editor of the West’s contemporary arts online magazine AdobeAirstream.com. The phone call to Bruguera was made during the press event immediately following the conversation as a special gesture to the members of the media.